I downsized my house, and the new house comes with a wonderful home theatre, six theatre seats, ceiling mounted projector, the works. Kids are ecstatic with it.

Problem, the projector is 10 years old, and some of the colors are just not there anymore. It was a top quality projector for 2002. Everything else is wonderful, I plugged in a new Blue Ray DVD to replace the old, and I have an HDMI equipped receiver that will be at least as good and probably better than the existing receiver that churns out incredible sound.

All I need to do is replace the projector. I had a Geek Squad consultant come out. he recommends the Epson 3020 3D 3 LCD projector. Cost of $1,599 (I get $100 rebate) so $1,499.

I know nothing about projectors. The theatre seats are about 15 to 20 feet back in the room. Set up I am sure to be optimal for the top resolution of 2002 and the screen size.

I have seen projectors for $600 or so, with xvga I believe (not HD, but if seats are that far back not sure if HD makes much of a difference).

Is it worth the extra $500 to $1,000 to move up to a projector like this Epson? I have no idea of what the incremental benefits are for that price difference.

If anyone has any insight, I'd appreciate it. Yes, it is a top notch home theatre set up, the real deal, but I moved into the house to save some money as well. Part of my going "off the grid" in case the worse sort of economic peril imposes itself upon us, so I will spend the extra money if it is worth it, but trying to be picky about not spending money on extra luxuries that are not worth the incremental cost.

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